Young Rocco Vata is a player that has bags of quality and also has the potential to star for Celtic Football Club some day. Son of an ex-Celt, Rudi Vata, he has the family connection to boot and hopefully one day he can follow in his father’s footsteps and play for the Celtic first team on a regular basis.
Much is anticipated of the youngster and at just 17-years-old, the bar has been set very high for him following consistently strong performances for the Celtic B team. At the moment, the pathway to the Celtic starting XI seems a lot way off, considering the wealth of options that Ange Postecoglou is spoiled with. But that’s not to say that a breakthrough is impossible.
Vata made a cameo appearance against Hibernian at Celtic Park in December and he has revealed that one day he dreams to be on that hallowed turf playing a starring role in the future success of the club. Opting to play for the Republic of Ireland, having been eligible for Scotland, Albania and Montenegro unbelievably, the attacker was speaking about his future during the recent international break. He said: “It’s a new age now, it’s not something that people my age say to me, ‘Oh your Dad played for Celtic’, as reported by Football Scotland.
“Whenever I talk to people in their 20s, they don’t say, ‘Oh did your Dad play?’ I have to tell them. I don’t mind older people recognising me for my Dad. It’s something that gets a lot of recognition, all the fans want me to follow in my Dad’s footsteps. Hopefully it’s something I can do in future, be a regular player in the Celtic team.”
He also revealed that he hasn’t discussed a potential move away for first team exposure to Ange Postecoglou, but added that it could be on the horizon to aid his development. He added: “I train with the first team every day and made my debut back in December. I had my experience at Celtic Park in pre-season so that was good as well for me. I’ve not spoken about going on loan yet. It is maybe in the plans.”
Paul Gillespie
